Category Archives: feldenkrais podcast

Hi there, this is a free Feldenkrais session (often called a “lesson”) titled, “Rhythmic Tapping” from Volume Two of my “Feldenkrais Classics” series. By far, one of the best selling series on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais.

Mia Segal and Leora Gaster Podcast

This podcast was recorded on April 15th, 2010 in Austin, Texas. It was the third recorded conversation that I had with Mia and Leora. (The second has not been broadcast).

This last conversation almost didn’t happen. Both Mia and Leora felt we had covered a lot of ground during our previous conversations and weren’t quite sure what else needed to be said. But in the back of my mind I felt like something was still missing. So Leora graciously extended another invitation to talk before I left.

The conversation that you are about to hear is only about 20 minutes. But we cover a great deal of ground. Mia shares stories about Moshe, how fun he was and how full of laughter and jokes. We talk briefly about Moshe’s x-wife Yona Rubenstein. We also speak of Noah Eshkol who, according to Mia, was very close to Moshe in terms of personality. We end with a story of Moshe’s fears about the work getting diluted based on what was happening at Amherst after he left.

Have you ever wondered how many people graduate from Feldenkrais Trainings on a yearly basis? Curious how many of those people actually start practices?

Paul Rubin’s Answer

Last month on the FeldyForum, Feldenkrais Trainer Paul Rubin stated his belief that most people who graduate from a Feldenkrais professional training program end up using the work in some type of professional context such as a Feldenkrais practice, physical therapy practice, dance practice etc.

When someone on the forum asked him where he was getting his data from, Rubin made some vague reference to a straw poll that he had conducted. I am not surprised that a trainer would want to see himself, his trainings, and perhaps the profession at large, as able to successfully launch careers in the Feldenkrais Method. However, I was stunned that Paul would simply put forth his own assertions – with no supporting evidence or data – and expect people to believe what he was saying. Several people, myself included, said as much.

Rather than owning up to the fact that he had no reliable nor meaningful data, Paul began engaging in a whole series of ad hominem attacks, many of which were directed at me. Apparently, the fact that I challenged him to provide some evidence for assertions means that I am frustrated individual, who is preaching gloom and despair – blah blah blah.

I don’t remember exactly what Paul wrote and I have since canceled my membership to the FeldyForum and can’t go back to check. But suffice it to say, that in the absence of having any evidence or reasoned response, Paul Rubin saw fit to attack me personally. In fact, at one point, Rubin refused to even speak to me directly, writing, “someone said…” and wrote that I was “claiming to be an expert.” Point taken. If you disagree with Paul Rubin, you become a nameless, faceless “other.” And being unable to meaningfully criticize my views he attacked my credentials. I am truly sorry that he is in that space. Not only does it serve no purpose for anyone and degrade both him and the method, but it in no way supports his case.

The Research Answer

After a few days, Paul did manage to find a survey done by Rob Black (currently the FGNA President-Elect) in 1997. (PDF Download: Snapshot of Feldenkrais Practice. Rob’s survey was a valiant first attempt, and does provide some very interesting data about the state of the Feldenkrais Method 12 years ago. For example, it has data on practitioners reported income and satisfaction with their work.

However, like most convenience sample studies it has major limitations. For example, it’s not clear that Rob had access to contact information for those who were not in the guild database and may not have been practicing. We don’t know how many attempts were made to contact people, some regions of the country where not represented, and overall, there is no way of saying that the study is representative of the population of Feldenkrais practitioners 12 years ago, let alone today.

Again, it’s great that the attempt was made, and I am sure at some point that FGNA (The Feldenkrais Guild of North Americal) will follow-up up. However, one study does not constitute an answer to the question:

“How many people take Feldenkrais Trainings and actually start practices?”

Who else might have an answer to the question?

The IFF’s Answer

The IFF (International Feldenkrais Federation) has been doing a great deal of work in the area of developing competency profiles and attempting to improve the practice of practitioners. In a 2008 report, they stated:

It’s sobering but true. Only a fraction of Feldenkrais training program graduates are still
practicing members of their guild five years later.

How they know that “only a fraction” are practicing members of their guild 5 years later, I do not know. Though I would hope that the report, compiled by representatives of Feldenkrais Guilds worldwide, has some factual basis for the assertion. I would certainly give it more credence than Paul Rubin’s dubious assertions.

Personal attacks on my character and intelligence notwithstanding, I cannot find any reliable or meaningful data on the efficacy of Feldenkrais trainings. If anyone can send me information, published or not, please do so, or leave a comment on this post.

Ryan’s Opinion

My personal opinion, (yes, that’s right my opinion) is that many people who take trainings have no intention of becoming practitioners, even if they state that as their goal. Currently, it’s difficult to find intensive experiences of the Feldenkrais Method without going to a training. Many people realize the value of the work and – I think – take trainings because they want a deeper experience of themselves and the method than they can get in a weekly class or weekend workshop. If that is true, it represents a huge opportunity, not just for Feldenkrais trainers, but for practitioners and assistant trainers.

Why?

I’d be willing to bet that those taking a feldenkrais training for largely personal reasons would be willing to spend money for less-expensive, but equally valuable intensive workshops. That is, they might be willing to attend a 1-week, 2-week, or even month-long workshop that would allow them to go deeply into the work without having to pay for the additional costs associated with the certification process (administration costs, staffing costs etc.) In addition to costing less, the workshop could be conducted by any practitioner willing to take the plunge and could serve as a valuable pathway for more people to learn about the work. It might also appeal to a much larger segment of the population.

And one last time – the question of how many people graduate from Feldenkrais trainings and then successfully create practices? I do not know.

And neither does Paul Rubin, nor anyone else in the Feldenkrais community.

I recently caught up with Ruthy Alon while she was in preparation for an upcoming 4-month international trip to teach Bones For Life and Feldenkrais. One of Moshe’s original “gang of 13” students, Ruthy speaks not only about the development and origination of her own work – Bones For Life – but also her beginnings with Moshe Feldenkrais.

In this podcast, you can find out how Ruthy got the idea for Bones For Life, how she integrates Feldenkrais principles into her work, and how she originally “found” Moshe. Ruthy also shares a wonderful story about how she approached Moshe with the idea of teaching his work at an Israeli University. This was at at time before he had conducted a formal training or was even calling what he did “ATM” or “FI”….

Much more that I could say, but let’s have the conversation speak for itself:

*When you click the link, the file should open automatically and play in another browser window. If not, you may need to download it to your computer. Also, if you use iTunes, you can go to the iTunes store and search for “Feldenkrais Podcasts” and each episode will download automatically.

In the interview below, Dr. Michael Merzenich speaks with Anat Baniel about her new book, Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality Watching the clip, I am deeply impressed with Anat’s ability to speak about Feldenkrais principles in a manner that is clear and easy-to-understand. It is an important skill that more people might want to learn. I will let the interview speak for itself:

In this 35-minute interview with Dr. Stephen Gilligan, we discuss a wide-variety of topics, including some of Steve’s early experiences with Milton Erickson, his development of Self-Relations Psychotherapy and the “third” generation of hypnosis, trance and change that he is developing now.

We also talk about some of the interrelations between between somatic practices such as Ericksonian Hypnosis, Feldenkrais-based methods and the martial arts and Steve shares some delightful stories about the meetings between Moshe Feldenkrais and Milton Erickson (Erickson and Feldenkrais) in 1976.

If you know someone would would enjoy this, would you please use the link below to forward it or to post the interview to a social networking site? Even if only one new person finds this blog and podcast it is a big help.

Welcome to a 33-minute podcast with Feldenkrais Trainer Bonnie Humiston from Humiston Wellness.. Bonnie began her studies with Moshe Feldenkrais in 1971 and graduated from the first North American Feldenkrais training in 1977. She has been a two-time President of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America, charter member of the International Feldenkrais Federation Board of Directors, and primary editor of the Amherst Training materials.

This podcast contains a great deal on historical information regarding the Feldenkrais Method and the various “guiding” organizations that have developed around the work such as the country and region-specific Feldenkrais Guilds and the International Feldenkrais Federation.

I am pleased to present an interview with Dennis Leri. Dennis is not only a Feldenkrais Trainer, but a Martial Artist and Buddhist who has a great deal of experience with thinkers and doers such as Miltion Erickson, Charles S. Peirce, Francisco Varela, Heinz von Foerster and many, many others.

He has published dozens of articles, many of which can be found on his Semiophysics website.

In this conversation, I ask a Dennis a cluster of related questions. For example, what areas in which he thinks Moshe Feldenkrais might have “missed the boat” or was unclear in his ideas, and if there were “new ideas” that Moshe was formulating but never had the opportunity to develop.

Conversely, I asked Dennis where he thinks we, as a community, missed certain ideas or threads in Moshe’s thinking. We also touch on the training and accreditation process. I asked Dennis if the needs of creating a profession have shaped the work in ways that might not be entirely clear or conscious. His answers may surprise you.

Along the way, Dennis tells some illuminating stories about self and identity, Moshe’s history, and aspects of Dr. Feldenkrais and his personality that many people have not had a chance to see and fully appreciate.

Note: You can download this episode directly to your computer by clicking the link above. On many computers it will beginning playing automatically. Adjust the volume higher or lower as you need. If you want to be notified of new episodes, click the “subscribe” button on the top right hand side of the blog. You can subscribe via iTunes, email or any other service that you might use.

All seventeen of the podcast interviews on this site can be purchased and downloaded at once – Over 10 hours of material directly to your computer. Interviews and Awareness Through Movement Sessions from Feldenkrais Trainers, Practitioners and researchers, including, Jerry Karzen, Frank Wildman, Larry Goldfarb, Alan Questel, Martin Weiner, Katrin Smithback, Diana Razumny, Alan Fogel, Moti Nativ and Dr. Stephen Gilligan. Over 9 hours of material, including lectures, commentary and several Feldenkrais, Awareness Through Movement Lessons. Also, comes with a 16 page Feldenkrais eBook, that contains the original blog posts, pictures of Moshe Feldenkrais and some of his trainings and links to resources. Over 9 hours of material!!

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Feldenkrais Podcast Episodes

Feldenkrais sessions that involve the breath have a tendency to bring out a great deal of emotion in me, sometimes leading to spontaneous crying or anger. Have you experienced something similar? The first time I experienced it was during a Feldenkrais table session (sometimes called "Functional Integration"). I was young at the time, only 24... […]

I am at a coffee shop preparing the transcript for my weekly Easy Feldenkrais session and I had a moment of confusion when the transcript of Moshe's session said, "Press the middle of your waist in the floor. That is, press the small ribs on the right and left - the floating ribs." To me,... […]

I was really excited a few days ago when I saw that my longtime friend, colleague and fellow "Feldenkrais Evangelist" Alfons Grabher had released a new book: Feldenkrais With Alfons: Getting Better Day By Day. Alfons does what I do - travels the world (He is an Austrian currently traveling in Hong Kong, Taiwan and... […]

Here is a wonderful (and free) audio Feldenkrais session that you can do right now. No need to enter your email, just click below to play. It is based on a session from "Alexander Yanai" (or AY as they are sometimes called). This is one of my all time favorite sessions. And that has little... […]

Several Feldenkrais practitioners told me that they do not like the tone of the article below from the U.K. Telegraph, but I love it! Slightly irreverent and 100% positive for Feldenkrais (from my point of view). "I was seeing the best physios in the world – and doing Pilates,” he recalls of his injuries, yet... […]

Moshe Feldenkrais

Every so often, I get questions from people about TMJ and surgery, be it a disk removal or grinding of the teeth or what have you. I am not a medical doctor and I cannot give medical advice. But what I can do is review the research on TMJ surgery, consult with experts, and make...

I have not been updating the blog too much these days, but just wanted to let you know that I (Ryan Nagy) am still here and the TMJ series is still going strong. I also want to relay to a very strange experience that I had last year but that I am only now writing...

I’m in the process of pulling together my pdf’s and research articles on TMJ in preparation for writing a book on the subject of “curing” TMJ. I put the word cure in quotes as very often TMJ does not seem to be a disease as much as a process. People often have processes of clenching...